Cobra Venom
by Ashen Tears
Summary: Eleven years after the Clue Hunt, Amy and Ian are soon to be happily married. But Hamilton discovers that Ian is hiding something. Does Ian truly have feelings for Amy...or is he just using her?
1. Chapter 1

The instant Hamilton Holt received the invitation, he knew what would happen that night.

After a practice session with his teammates from the USA cricket team, a young man ran up to him, delivered the card, and dashed off without a word.

He turned the envelope over. Kabra Dealerships was printed in curly golden letters.

He sighed and slit open the envelope. He unfolded the letter.

'Dear Mr. Holt,

Mr. Ian Kabra, the honorable chairman of Kabra Dealerships, would like to extend his cordial greetings to you. He wishes to invite you to a friendly get-together at his new mansion in Washington D.C. The event will take place at 6 pm on March 4th.'

Hamilton sighed. He knew all too well why Ian was arranging this, but he couldn't pull out.

He flipped open his cell phone and called his sister Madison.

"Yeah," she said when Hamilton asked her. She sounded tired, as if she was in the middle of her weightlifting routine. "Reagan and I got invitations, too."

"Okay, then," Hamilton said. "I'll see you tonight." He ended the call.

He packed up his kit and got into his car.

_Come on_, he chided himself. _You knew this day would come sooner or later._

_Yes_, his cynical side argued. _But preferably later._


	2. Chapter 2

At 5:45 that evening, Hamilton stood outside the Kabra mansion in Washington D.C.

_Your last chance to back out_, he thought. _You never wanted to see this day._

But he knew he couldn't. He owed her that much.

He took a deep breath and walked inside.

Inside, he saw so many familiar faces from his clue-hunting days – Alistair Oh, the Starling triplets, Jonah Wizard – but his eyes fell on the four at the center of the room.

Ian Kabra, dressed as impeccably at 25 as he had been at 14, was standing with a glass of champagne in one hand. For some reason, his sister Natalie was absent. He was talking to Amy Cahill.

Amy had never liked to go for flashy, but she looked very pretty in a velvet black dress. Dan, for whom this must have been pure torture, was wearing a tuxedo.

Ian saw Hamilton and came over to greet him, the other two hovering behind him.

"You are free to enjoy yourself," Ian said to Hamilton, "but if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to make a small speech first."

Hamilton didn't respond, but Ian stepped away and raised his glass.

"My friends and cousins!" he said, in a loud, deep voice. "It's been many years since we have met. None of us are getting any younger."

No one was speaking, all of their eyes riveted on their host.

"And now," he continued, "I'd like to take the next important step in my life."

Hamilton wandered over to a window and gazed determinedly outside. The turmoil of his emotions couldn't mask Ian's voice, though.

Gasps and murmurs rippled through the crowd. Hamilton heard the _snap_ of a box latch opening.

"Amy," he heard Ian say. "Will you marry me?"

Hamilton finally turned around. Ian was on his knees, holding an open box with a diamond ring inside. Amy had her hands over her mouth, her eyes shining.

"Oh, Ian," she said softly, "it's beautiful!"

There was utter silence.

"Yes," she said finally. "Yes, I will!"

Now came the applause, the celebrations. Somebody even showered confetti on them.

It seemed someone else was bored. Dan came over to stand by Hamilton.

"That was…unexpected," Dan said finally.

"You can say that again," Hamilton muttered.

"That was unexpected," Dan repeated.

Hamilton cracked a smile. Dan always knew how to tickle his funny bone, but he wasn't in a laughing mood.

_Cheer up_, he thought. _She's 25! You knew this was going to happen!_

He couldn't take it. He walked away, muttering something about needing a drink. He headed down the corridor to the restroom.

Before he'd reached, however, he heard a muffled voice from one of the bedroom doors. It sounded like Ian, but he couldn't be sure…

Glancing around surreptitiously to make sure no one was watching, he knelt next to the door, putting his ear to the keyhole.

"– won't work if you can't spring her," he was saying. "Hopefully, we'll be able to access the Madrigal files in a few months and get the –"

Ian stopped suddenly. Obviously, the person at the other end of the line had cut in.

"True," he continued, "but that's what this whole drama's for, right?"

He paused again, but he didn't seem happy with what he heard, because he said impatiently, "Okay, fine. You'll do it tomorrow, then. Have to go, eyes and ears are everywhere. Bye."

Hamilton realized the importance of this sentence just as footsteps sounded from inside the room. He dashed back to the main room. Mere seconds later, Ian was there.

Hamilton didn't fully understand what he'd heard, but he knew this much: Ian was using Amy for something.

And Amy was in danger.


	3. Chapter 3

Back at his apartment, Hamilton plugged in his HP Pavilion laptop and opened the internet browser. First of all, he needed to find out who Ian had been talking to.

That was the easy bit. He had Ian added as an email contact. He opened Gmail and logged on to hholt_thomas. From there, he opened the last message he'd received from Ian – a soft copy of the party invitation – and used the headers option to trace the IP address of the computer the email had been sent from.

Now, he used the IP address to remotely hack the modem. This was the tricky part. He was relying on the assumption that the phone was connected to the same modem as the laptop; if not, his plans were out the window.

The modem screen came up, showing a list of connected devices. Hamilton scrolled through it frantically, and sighed with relief when he saw an AT&T phone connected.

It was now a simple matter to check the call log for a call that matched the timings. He made a note of the number.

_I knew it was a good choice to keep that subscription to Reverse Phone Detective_, he thought. It had cost him 45 dollars for the year, but it was coming in handy now.

He pasted the number into the input box and clicked 'Submit'.

After about a minute, a name popped up.

Natalie Kabra

Hamilton stared in surprise. So _that_ was where Natalie had been! But what had she been doing?

He checked the call location. It was somewhere on Gorham Street.

_Gorham Street_. Why did that sound so familiar?

Then it hit him. The Massachusetts Superior Court was at 360 Gorham Street. That was where Isabel Kabra had been tried for murder.

Coincidence?

Hamilton didn't think so.


End file.
